The Help (2011)

August 27, 2011

to Read
(

Words)

Is there anyone who has not heard of this movie in the recent days and weeks leading up to its release? Annually when my dad takes his once a year (twice at the most) work-related trip, my mom and I always enjoy doing something fun – just the two of us. This year in addition to some shopping we went and saw this highly-acclaimed movie, and were most definitely not disappointed by the experience. Probably the majority of you, who may have wanted to see this, already have, but nevertheless, I thought I’d write up a review regarding my thoughts on the movie and the conclusions I came too.

The tight-knit group of neighbors in Jackson Mississippi has codes and unspoken rules by which they live. If those are broken, the women who uphold them aren’t afraid of using cruel tactics in order to “correct” their fellow society woman… and most especially the women who run their households, raise their children and are then ill-treated for doing their jobs: these women are their maids. Wealthy and with an attitude that she knows everything there is to know and is right all the time, Hilly Holbrock (Bryce Dallas Howard) is the biggest offender of such behavior. She is so prejudiced she finds it offensive that her fellow neighbor and committee member Elizabeth Leefolt (Ahna O’ Rielly) won’t install separate bathroom facilities for her maid Aibileen (Viola Davis) – why it is just scandalous and Hilly refuses to use Elizabeth’s facilities lest Aibileen have contaminated them. The quiet Aibileen has had her share of hurts – including the loss of her only son but through it all she has triumphed. Then there is the rebel of the bunch Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan (Emma Stone).

In the early 1960’s women married and started having babies and that was that. But Skeeter isn’t like the others. As a girl she was ridiculed for being ugly but now as a grown woman with a college education, she is determined to make her mark in the world by becoming a world-famous author. Skeeter also takes the time to acknowledge the help – in a sense even to befriend them. Meanwhile, recently moved to Jackson is Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain) who causes quite the stir in the otherwise prim and proper circles. She is thought to be lower-class by Hilly and her peers so she is continuously snubbed by them even though she married one of Jackson’s own wealthy sons. After a series of mishaps, Hilly’s opinionated maid Minny (Octavia Spencer) is fired and winds up being the only woman willing to be hired by Miss Celia… and it is in part these events that gets Skeeter to thinking about these women – about their treatment by employers: about their stories, their feelings.

I am just going to delve right in and share my initial reaction to this without making you guess my eventual opinion… Oh. My. Gosh! This was an awesome, inspiring movie. Not so much the same kind of ‘awesome’ that the latest espionage thrillermight be considered or ‘inspiring’ like Amazing Grace but, trust me: it is good. At first, I knew it’d be something I’d rent but then my mom showed interest so I had the idea that it might make for a fun girls’ day out, then my mom kind of lost interest because of various different remarks, eventually, we settled on seeing it anyway – and we were both glad for it. Something about the movie really tugs at your heartstrings. The cast is nearly all female – spanning from various different walks in life and age so that probably plays a vital part in it being so relatable to such a wide female audience.

It might seem strange to us now to think that black women would be persecuted for even speaking candidly with a white counterpart but that was true during these times where rioting was a popular news story and President Kennedy’s assassination was a source of mourning for everyone. The second thing that amazes me is how parents treated their children. It was like they were dirt beneath their feet and the only reason for having children was because it was the thing to do rather than because a married couple wanted children. I only managed to get a mere few pages read of the novel before seeing the movie but just in those few, I can say that the movie does seem to do the book justice. I immediately picked up on similar conversation in the first ten minutes of the movie after only flipping through the book and reading those couple of pages. I look forward to finishing the best-selling book by Kathryn Stockett and seeing the movie again – a DVD that will most likely be among my own collection.

For those of us that enjoy strong protagonists, this movie will cater to your likes. Its script brings us multiple courageous strong-willed characters and for that alone I love the film. There are countless memorable scenes which often bring you to tears. And I am not an emotional viewer in the sense that I cry a lot during something but I did begin to lose it (before catching myself!) when Aibileen was forced to say good-bye to one person who relied on her – who loved her near the end. In addition to that scene I loved the interaction between Celia, her husband and Minny – there was one family who treated their “help” with respect and dignity and it was priceless. The cast is also phenomenal! Emma was adorable (I loved her Skeeter), Viola gave a deep, emotional performance, Octavia was hilarious …and Bryce, well, she made an excellent villainess. I just cannot say enough about the way the movie unfolds. It might have been a tad over-long (clocking in at 137 minutes) but it is nevertheless a very special movie with very special characters – and that is what makes The Help special.

(Cautions: there is discussion about miscarriages and one woman is seen sprawled on her bathroom floor with a pool of blood around her. Elsewhere, implications suggest a man beats his wife; another person is said to have been shot. There is some social drinking and a few swear words. Plus, a couple of crude jokes: one of which you just cannot help but laugh at. The Help is rated PG13)

4 comments:

I was on vacation this whole last week so I just wanted to comment and say I LOVE your blog! The past posts have really been great to read through...I cannot wait to see The Help, your piece on Beastly was very well done, 27 Dresses looks adorable!!, and your sister post made me smile as I have not one--but 2 younger sisters. The first only two years younger than me...and we are total. opposites. ;)

"Beastly" is a great story, and Ella and Ruth (thanks ladies!) totally talked me into buying the book, so I now have that to read in my already mile-high stack of novels. "27 Dresses" IS adorable! I hope you see it sometime (and let us know what YOU thought of it). The "Oh Sister!" post was a lot of fun for me to write. And then "The Help" - it was great too. My mother and I both found it thought-provoking and very well-done. Enjoy, whenever you see it... and don't forget to share your thoughts about it with us all!

Thank you so much for the kind thoughts! It is always encouraging to hear them. =) Now you are back to posting, I am going to LOVE reading your blog, too. =D

Rissi, I am adding you to my ever growing list of people raving about "The Help" to me. Honestly, I have lost track at how many times I have heard positive things about it.

And it has been so nice--I haven't heard anything negative about it. If my Nana went to go see it (and trust me, she does NOT go see new movies =)) and loved it, I know I will too...problem is, it is only at my expensive theatre right now.

But once I watch it, I will definitely let you know what I think of it. And you let me know what you think about Beastly--the book!

"The Help" is truly a wonderful movie, Ella. I have read a few negative things about it, but unless one just doesn't want to see them, there are just so many beautiful scenes in the movie. My mom and I made it a "girls day" outing and both enjoyed it.

Hope you can see it soon: I'll look forward to your take on it. =)

"Beastly" - yes, you ladies convinced me. I found a PB at Target and it just... jumped into my hands. LOL! Anyway, whenever I get around to reading it (I read portions of three different books during my hour-long reading time last night!), I'll share my thoughts.

Have a thought? Don't be shy, go ahead and leave one... or two... or three! I reply to every comment. If you're new to the blog, please don't hesitate to introduce yourself and your blog - we love chatting around here!

Feedback and every comment is appreciated and read - I always leave a response; your opinions are respected and I ask that you show mine the same courtesy.

(If you post under “anonymous,” please leave a name. If you don't have a Google account, you can type your name into the Name/URL and if you have no site, just leave "URL" blank.)

If you are still reading my ramblings, thank you for following this little blog and for being one of its supporters. I’ve enjoyed getting to know each of you, friends!

Contact Form

Bonjour and Welcome!

Welcome thank you for visiting and reading, if youlike, you are invited to join our conversations and follow along – joinus. You're most welcome. Read more about Finding Wonderland♥

Followers

Social Media

Finding Wonderland in your Inbox!

Subscribe! Have Finding Wonderland's new content sent to your inbox; sign up for our once (or twice) monthly round up of new content. If you'd like to have this newsletter sent to your inbox, you can enter your email address here.

Disclosures

Some of the links on this blog are affiliate links, which means that if you click on a product link, I may receive compensation. This compensation comes at no additional cost to you.
Rissi JC (RissiWrites.com) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Disclosure of Material: RissiWrites.com is review site that frequently receives books from publishing houses, publicists or authors. I am not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed here are our own.I am not paid for any of the reviews I publish.

Follow @Rissi006

Privacy

Finding Wonderland and RissiWrites.com (referred to herein as "we" or "our") does not sell or trade your (user, reader) information nor do we share information with other sources. The exception being in the case of a third party giveaway host.
Advertising companies (ads placed on RissiWrites.com) or Amazon Affiliates may collect some information when you visit our website, which we have no control over.
Further information may be collected when you visit RissiWrites.com. Information like IP addresses or location, third-parties such as ads placed on this site may also collect this data.
If you enter a giveaway here through Rafflecopter, the information the user is sharing will be used only to provide you with the user's giveaway prize; if the prize is an Amazon Kindle book, the email WILL be shared on Amazon. If you sign up for a newsletter here, the user's information will only be used to have Finding Wonderland's new posts sent to user's inbox.
This information was updated May 2018.